Transparency in eLearning

 

Online education has become increasingly popular over the past few years and it’s not hard to see why. Amongst many things, it offers flexibility and convenience, allowing students to learn at their own pace and within their own schedule. However, with the good, unfortunately, there also comes the bad because to this day online education is still viewed in some circles as subpar to attendance learning.

In order to combat this negative view, The Open College believes that transparency is key to breaking the negative narrative of online education.

 

Here are 4 simple ways this can be achieved:

 

  1. Communication: We must always ensure that the college’s practices and lines of communication are clear and transparent. This is key to ensure that all learners are equipped to make informed decisions about their education. This information should be easy to understand, be readily available and up to date. Information needs to be in relation to everything from costs, start dates, accreditation (QQI) to syllabus and materials needed.

 

  1. Technology: College’s should use reliable, secure and stable learning management systems (LMS), by doing this, learners will have a consistent learning experience without disruptions.

 

  1. Support: A human touch is key. At the end of the day, we are all human and no matter how great the technology is that we use, it still can’t account for confusion and the need for clarity. By providing support services, college’s ensure that learners have the resources they need to succeed in their online course.

 

  1. Inclusion: Where possible, allow learners to have a say. Make changes based on analytics, feedback and surveys.

 

Through streamlined communication, an easy to use LMS, inclusion and support, transparency in an online learning environment can help students achieve their academic goals and ultimately help break the negative stereotype around online education, one learner at a time.

Compared to traditional attendance based learning, there are many advantages in online education that can make transparency easy to achieve and all that eLearning providers have to do is use these advantages and not cut corners.